Putting a Price Tag on Film Piracy

My print column examines dramatic changes in research into the economic effects of movie piracy — and how those changes have been reflected in the numbers used to quantify the impact of illegal downloads, bootleg DVDs and the like.

From their publication in 2006 through the debate over the Stop Online Piracy Act that ended early last year, the film industry frequently has cited the findings of a study by the Institute for Policy Innovation, a Lewisville, Texas-based think tank that found film piracy was costing the U.S. economy $20.5 billion annually. That IPI study and a subsequent one in turn built on a study funded by the studios’ trade association, the Motion Picture Association of America, and conducted by L.E.K. Consulting, which was based on over 20,000 surveys of consumers conducted in 22 countries. L.E.K. found that piracy was costing studios $6.1 billion a year.